A comparative study for the quantitative determination of soluble solids content, pH and firmness of pears by Vis/NIR spectroscopy

Visible and near infrared (Vis/NIR) spectroscopy was investigated to determine the soluble solids content (SSC), pH and firmness of different varieties of pears. Two-hundred forty samples (80 for each variety) were selected as sample set. Two-hundred ten pear samples (70 for each variety) were selected randomly for the calibration set, and the remaining 30 samples (10 for each variety) for the validation set. Partial least squares (PLS) and least squares-support vector machine (LS-SVM) with different spectral preprocessing techniques were implemented for calibration models. Different wavelength regions including Vis, NIR and Vis/NIR were compared. It indicated that Vis/NIR (400–1800 nm) was optimal for PLS and LS-SVM models. Then, LS-SVM models were developed with a grid search technique and RBF kernel function. All LS-SVM models outperformed PLS models. Next, effective wavelengths (EWs) were selected according to regression coefficients. The EW-LS-SVM models were developed and a good prediction precision and stability was achieved compared with PLS and LV-LS-SVM models. The correlation coefficient of prediction (rp), root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and bias for the best prediction by EW-LS-SVM were 0.9164, 0.2506 and −0.0476 for SSC, 0.8809, 0.0579 and −0.0025 for pH, whereas 0.8912, 0.6247 and −0.2713 for firmness, respectively. The overall results indicated that the regression coefficient was an effective way for the selection of effective wavelengths. LS-SVM was superior to the conventional linear PLS method in predicting SSC, pH and firmness in pears. Therefore, non-linear models may be a better alternative to monitor internal quality of fruits. And the EW-LS-SVM could be very helpful for development of portable instrument or real-time monitoring of the quality of pears.

► Vis/NIR spectroscopy was used to determine the SSC, pH and firmness of pears. ► Vis/NIR (400–1800 nm) was optimal for PLS and LS-SVM models. ► The regression coefficient was an effective way for the selection of EWs. ► LS-SVM was superior to the linear PLS method in predicting SSC, pH and firmness. ► EW-LS-SVM could be very helpful for real-time monitoring of the quality of pears.